Krafton’s CEO asked ChatGPT how to avoid a $250 million payout, and now accuses Subnautica devs of deleting their own AI conversations

by

The dispute between Krafton and the former developers of the Subnautica series is escalating. This is largely due to a $250 million bonus the developers were promised if the second game in the series reached a specific sales goal. The two sides are now heavily involved in a legal battle, constantly filing new motions with the court. The most recent filing is especially noteworthy.

  1. Based on documents uncovered during the trial, the studio’s founders claim that Krafton decided to fire them only after negotiations to reduce the bonus amount had failed.
  2. According to them, this challenges Krafton’s claim that the founders were let go because they weren’t managing the team well. The studio founders think the documents they found show that the publisher set everything up to take over the team and dodge paying the bonus.
  3. Interestingly, the documents allegedly prove that the Krafton CEO tried to get some advice from ChatGPT, asking the AI for ideas on how to avoid paying the bonus. This reportedly didn’t yield good results, as the devs wrote in a court message to the publisher: “ChatGPT advised you that it would be difficult.”
  4. In the lawsuit, the founders are asking for records of all the chats between Krafton’s execs and ChatGPT, but the CEO says those conversations have already been deleted. He also responds with a counterattack, accusing these developers of deleting conversations with AI models themselves to destroy evidence.

The documents reveal that Unknown Worlds studio is currently facing significant challenges, and developers have lost trust in Krafton’s leadership. What was once a creatively open and positive environment has now become quiet and uncertain.

Currently, Subnautica 2 will only be available on PC. The game is planned to release in Early Access sometime next year.

  1. Subnautica 2 on Steam

Read More

2025-11-18 18:33